Working Memory Updating And Training In Test Anxiety

Task-irrelevant thoughts (TIT) associated with test anxiety (TA) impairs cognitive abilities and academic performance. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of TA on working memory updating (WMU), a core of cognitive abilities, at both behavioral and EEG levels among samples of undergraduate students by exploring the relationship between TIT and WMU using a modified reading span task, and also by investigating transfer effects of WMU training adopting the Back-span task we developed in the present study.The main results and conclusions obtained in the series of experiments are as the following:1. Updating performance under the condition of the TIT, relative to updating performance under emotionally-neutral condition, was poorer in highly test anxious (HTA) participants compared with lowly test anxious (LTA) participants under stress and non-stress conditions. No significant difference in updating performance was found between the stress and non-stress conditions.2. Updating performance under the test related threatening condition, relative to updating performance under the test related non-threatening condition and under the test-unrelated threatening condition, was poorer in HTA participants compared with LTA participants.3. Relative to frontal-midline theta (FM-theta) activity during WMU under the emotionally-neutral condition, FM-theta activity was weaker during WMU under the TIT condition for HTA participants compared with LTA participants.4. Only training on the Back-span task using test related threatening stimuli accrued transfer gains simultaneously on the emotional Stroop task using test related threatening words and on the modified reading span task under the TIT condition, with enhanced FM-theta activity.In conclusion, the current study demonstrates for the first time that TIT associated with TA impairs WMU function in HTA participants at both behavioral and neural levels, regardless of stress; and also WMU training using test related threatening material could improve updating under the TIT condition and affective executive control in HTA participants. These findings are suggestive of a deficit in controlling TIT associated with TA in HTA participants. Additionally, the current study reports for the first time the development of the modified reading span task and the Back-span task, which are appropriate tasks for HTA participants to measure and train WMU function respectively.